SCOTT JACOBS

Thanks to Coke Zero and their new basketball contest Fannovation (we’ll get back to that later), Juiced Sports had the opportunity to talk hoops and even a little BCS with college basketball do it all man Seth Davis, who writes for Sports Illustrated, and serves as an analyst for CBS Sports during their coverage of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.

Seth was cordial and a terrific interview.  I had many more questions I wanted to ask him, but his answers were so in depth to my first few questions, that we went over the allotted time.  So I’ll have to save those questions for another day.  I did however get a homework assignment from Seth, one that would make for a very intriguing research project.  That said, here is my interview with Seth Davis.  It’s a Juiced Sports exclusive.  Enjoy!

Juiced Sports:  What would you say to people who argue that the NCAA Tournament renders much of the regular season meaningless?

Seth Davis: It’s completely incorrect.  The tourney enhances the regular season.  When you get into mid to late February every night of the week there are several game that have major implications in terms of the bubble.  Are those games as important as the NCAA Tournament games?  Of course not, but why would you want them to be. To me that’s like saying, ‘well let’s get rid of the NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl’ because we want the regular season to be more meaningful. Division 1A college football in the United States is the only league on the planet that doesn’t have a post-season playoff.  I don’t know if it’s because those people who run that sport have figured something out that the rest of the world doesn’t know.

JSB: It’s an interesting point with those bubble teams, because as you get down to those games at the end of the season, they become these crazy free-for all who can get in tussles.  And the conference championship games– which have no where near the meaning in college football (with the exception of a few BCS Conferences) have the most meaning in the world to some of these smaller lesser known schools in college basketball.

SD: Where’s the meaning in college football’s post-season? There’s what, 31  bowl games, probably more? (Editor: 34 actually, but we stopped counting after 28). Most of them don’t even have any meaning. I just don’t see the great meaning in college football’s post-season.

JSB:  You get a lot of these teams –even the ones going to BCS games– and a minute and a half later no one cares (ala: Iowa beating Georgia Tech) because the games don’t have any real meaning (Editor’s note:  There’s a pair of new bowl games on the horizon next year we should add– because that’s just what we need, more mediocrity flooding the college football post-season).

“It should be hard to get to the NCAA Tournament.  I think those of us in the media don’t do a good enough job highlighting that.” - Seth Davis

SD: Right.

JSB: Some people have advocated that the NCAA Tournament go so far as to double the field, from 65 to a number potentially in the hundreds.  I personally think that’s crazy.  I would argue that by doing so, you would be diluting the field, but you’re the expert, so what’s your take?

SD: I agree with your take. I don’t think you have to be an expert to understand that it would dilute the field.  Back to your question, I always do feel like I’m defending college basketball’s regular season with the argument that you have a lot of meaningful bubble games.  If you expand the field to 96 then those games have a lot less meaning. I would also argue that it should be hard to get to the NCAA Tournament.  I think those of us in the media don’t do a good enough job highlighting that.  I don’t see why it would have a lot of meaning to make the NCAA  Tournament if basically everybody gets to play.  The fact that it is so hard to get in only enhances the value of actually making it.

JSB:  It almost makes me wonder if the same people who want the NCAA Tournament to expand are in favor of the bowl game type system where almost everybody gets a chance to get a game at the end of the season (as long as you win six games that is!)  I had a chance to talk to the founder of the Eagle Bank Bowl (the bowl game in Washington D.C.) when they first started, and she basically said it’s not about winning and losing, it’s about giving these schools and their fans an extra game at the end of the season– where people can say my team made the post-season this year, and maybe that would be their argument.  But I still think it’s ridiculous.

SD: Well again, they should have meaning.  If you take away the meaning of making the playoffs, then it’s just, look– I would never criticize anybody, much less the NCAA for trying to make more money. If they feel like they can make more money by expanding the tournament than I would never begrudge that.  But the main part of the argument is really coming from coaches.  It all comes down to job security.  They seem to be of the belief– and they may not be wrong– that if you expand the tournament, more teams get into the tournament and fewer coaches get fired.  I just don’t think that ends up being true, but I can certainly see where they are come from.  They are under enormous pressure and that’s why by the way, I also never criticize a coach, the occasional Lane Kiffin aside, which I think was a bogus move (Editor’s note: doesn’t matter what sport you cover, it seems like everyone hates Lane for screwing over UT) you’ll never hear me criticizing a coach for taking a job that pays more money, because fans can be upset and that he’s not staying at that school, but if he didn’t win, they’d fire him.  So if Brian Kelly didn’t win at Cincinnati they would fire him. So I have no problem with Kelly leaving Cincinnati to take the Notre Dame job.

JSB: It’s really funny you bring up coaching, because that was actually my next question. But before I ask about that, considering we’re talking about big time coaches in college sports, what did you make of John Calipari when he left Memphis– a perennial top 5, top 10 school that got some of the best recruiting classes in the nation despite being in Conference U.S.A.– for a program like Kentucky, which obviously is a bigger, more prolific basketball school?

SD: He’s an incredible coach.  When I say the word coach, I’m talking about more than just drawing up plays. The most important part of a coach’s job is recruiting, and for John Calipari to be able to recruit the way he did at Memphis, which doesn’t even play in a BCS Conference– he never got enough credit for that. It was assumed that he should be able to do that.  Then if the teams were good, he wouldn’t be considered for Coach of the Year because they’re supposed to be good, because he has such good players.  But why do they have such good players?  Because he recruited them there.  To me this is the easiest Coach of the Year race to handicap in over 10 years.  Look at what he’s done at Kentucky, it’s incredible.  That school was completely down in the dumps last year, and they missed out on the tournament.  They had a tumultuous two years with Billy Gillispie and they had to fire him, and in one cycle, Calipari has them undefeated and about to be ranked number one in the country.  He’s got an incredible record of success wherever he has been– his experience with the Nets notwithstanding, and he was a very smart hire by Kentucky.

JSB:  It’s funny you bring up the Nets, because they seem to be having trouble winning with anybody lately (Editor’s note:  Sorry, Nets fans, couldn’t resist).

SD: That they do, that they do. It’s more than about one coach.  I can tell you that.

JSB: That said, why doesn’t college basketball have the same kind of coaching carousel as college football?  It seems like there is much more stability in college hoops than there is in say a college football.  Also, you don’t see coaches constantly jumping from job to job.  Is that the way you see it?

SD: Not quite.  I’d like to see the numbers on that to be honest. It does sort of seem that every spring I want to say that there’s probably 30-40 coaches who change jobs, because they’re fired, they leave, or whatever.  Now that’s out of 340 division one schools, so I’d like to see what the numbers are in college football.  I know that there’s been a lot of turnover in the prominent programs in college football over the last several years.  Really, there’s more money in college football, and money does not lead to stability in most endeavors in life. It’s ironic.  Stewart Mandel who covers college football for us at SI.com made a comment to me recently, after he went to see the Blind Side, and I think he said if I’m not mistaken, that all those coaches who recruited [Oher] are no longer with their schools.  So I think that definitely speaks to what you’re talking about.

JSB:  I never knew that.

SD: Yeah, you should double check that.  I’d also like to see the numbers– maybe that’d be a good blog thing to write– over the last five years of how many coaching changes have there been in college football versus college basketball and then compare those percentages.

JSB:  I will do that (Editor’s note: we will try to do that, key word try)

SD: That’s your assignment.

JSB: I think that high school stars should have the option of going straight to the NBA if they so choose, however I also believe that if they choose to play college ball they should have to play at least two years.  My argument would be that it would strengthen the sport and allow these super prospects to develop even scarier skill sets, that would in turn help them even more at the next level.  Plus it would be good for the fans.  Do you think that would be a good rule?  Do you think we will ever see the NBA institute something like that?

SD: I think what you ought to do is set up a conference call with David Stern and Billy Hunter and give them that idea, because I think it’s a great one, and it’s one that a lot of people have been talking about.  I think people need to understand first and foremost that the draft minimum is not an NCAA rule.  The NCAA was not involved in that decision, they were not consulted in that decision, and they didn’t make that decision.  That was completely between the NBA and the players association.  It was basically the last key point in the last collective bargaining agreement to close the deal.  Billy Hunter told me that David Stern wanted a 20 year old minimum and the players association wanted no minimum, so they just flipped the baby and they made it 19. I think the biggest problem is that it’s created a situation in college basketball where you have a very, very small number– again, you’re talking about maybe a dozen or so kids who could even think about turning pro out of high school or after one year versus the 1000 kids who play college basketball.  You have in those situations, guys who basically go to school for one semester.  They tried to incentifize that with the Academic Progress Report and all that but, basically where I come down to is this:  if the NBA doesn’t want high school kids in their league than they ought to stop drafting them.  If there’s a market for their services and if guys like Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, guys that have proven that you can have enormous success in the NBA coming straight out of high school then it should be up to the kids.  I had a great college experience. I don’t know what decision I would have made, but it’s not up to me to tell another kid that he can’t seize a tremendous financial opportunity that may not come around again.

JSB:  Speaking of financial opportunities, Brandon Jennings went overseas last year to play for a year, and despite being pretty mediocre over in Europe, he came back and was drafted by the Bucks, and now he’s having an incredible– potentially Rookie of the Year caliber– season at the NBA level.  Now that Jennings has been so successful do you think that this will become more of a trend, with more American high school basketball stars going overseas for a season or two and then coming back to the states to play in the NBA, instead of going to college?

SD: I definitely do not see a larger trend developing.  Brandon Jennings was not academically eligible to play college basketball, and if he were he would have spent one year at the University of Arizona and not in Europe and then gone onto the NBA.  So, I don’t see that trend developing. I’m glad that kids have the option if they want to take it.  I’m personally quite surprised that Brandon is having  immediate success in the NBA given the lack of success that he had in the one year he was over in Italy.  But I think that speaks to the competition in Europe.  But again, I think it should totally be up to these kids to decide what is best for them, but I just don’t feel that a lot of American kids at the age of 18 or 19, picking up and moving to a foreign country– with all the adjustments you have to make, playing against men, and dealing with all that– as supposed to playing in their home country, near their family, near their friends, and on television, which they grew up watching the NCAA Tournament– I just don’t think that at the end of the day that will prove to be the wiser option for them.

JSB:  Okay, finally let’s talk about Coke Zero and their Department of Fannovation.  Tell me a little bit about that.

SD: It’s a great promotion for me to be associated with.  It’s being put on by Coke Zero which has pushed the limits of what’s possible by combining real Coke taste with zero calories.  So now they’re giving fans the chance to do the same thing with college basketball.  So what you do is you go to www.cokezero.com/ncaa and you submit your best idea to enhance the college basketball fan experience.  It can be something simple like a concession cup that turns into a megaphone or a pair of pants that has seat cushions built into the legs, or a mascot cam for the viewers at home.  So think about thundersticks or the wave or all these things that we’re used to seeing around games.  So you submit your best idea, they come up with 64 and they’ll put them in a bracket around selection Sunday and then they will do a survive and advance bracket style format where the fans will vote.  If you reach the Sweet 16 they give you a 1000 bucks.  If you win the whole thing they give you $10,000 and a trip to the Final Four. So all that’s available at www.cokezero.com/ncaa.

I also would like to add real quick that beginning this Friday you can join Coke in helping out Haiti by going to www.mycokerewards.com and donating points which Coke will match and donate to the Red Cross.  Coke has already donated 1 million dollars to the Red Cross. So that’s available as well to help out our friends over in Haiti.

JSB:  Thanks so much for your time.  We will definitely spread the word about Haiti and Coke Zero’s Fannovation.  It was a pleasure speaking to you, and good luck covering the NCAA Tournament this year.

SD: I look forward to you completing my assignment.

JSB:  I’ll get back to you on that.

SD: Yeah, I’d like to see that.  Thank you.

SCOTT JACOBS

Gary Payton was a gritty player, a tough player, and a chatty player. He was also a hilarious interview. The NBA could use more characters like him.

Interview conducted November 2006

Jacobs: How much community service do you do?
Payton: I do a lot. I got a Christmas coming up at Target. My foundation has been doing it for 15 years. My foundation just hooked up with Antoine’s (Walker) foundation. We’re going to take 150 kids apiece, give them 200 dollars apiece, and go to Target. I usually do it at Toys R Us, and I used to take needy kids, like who have cancer or can’t come to the Target stores, and I bring them in buses. We’re going to have 300 kids, and they’re going to all be there. Me and Antoine’s going to walk around, help them pick out something for their families and stuff like that. We do a lot of this. I do a lot of community service. I pick five kids a year, and give them scholarships to go to school. we give them certain amounts of money. It depends on what your GPA, and then I give them the scholarship.

SJ: What’s the most fulfilling part of this?
GP: Just to see these people come and have smiles on their face. Some of these people don’t really get the opportunity to eat on Thanksgiving, or have presents during Christmas. For us to give them this, and then they come by and they’re crying and all that, it makes you feel like you’ve done something., and done something worthy. It makes you feel good about it. And this is what we want. We want to see this on their face.

SJ: It goes to show you there’s more then just playing basketball in the NBA.
GP: O yeah. We’re just fortunate that we have made it in the NBA and got this opportunity. But we need to give back too. Because we were at this stage in our life too, where we didn’t have more money, and we were doing the same thing. I grew up in Oakland, CA where I see the same thing. When I get an opportunity to give back to these people I understand where they’re coming from, because I’ve been in that same situation too.

SJ: Last year you win your first title with the Heat. It’s got to be an incredible feeling. You’ve waited so long. You were like Marino only now you finally get that title.
GP: 16 years. I waited 16 years, and it was a blessing for me to get. I’m happy that I got it. It completed my career now. Hopefully I can go on and get into the Hall of Fame and all that stuff..This is great. Especially I did it with a team I like. 15 guys. We were acting like we were brothers, we are brothers really. This is what we do. We all have a good relationship with each other. We all hang out with each other. Everybody comes over each others houses.

SJ: Sounds like a real tight knit group.
GP: Real tight knit. We do everything together. We play poker together. We play cards together. We do everything. We bowl, shoot pool. Everybody does everything together. And when we go somewhere, we always call one of the other guys to see if they want to go to dinner with us or whatever. It’s one of those things where we just feel real comfortable with each other.

SJ: How do you fare when you’re bowling or playing poker. Are you good at any of it?
GP: Poker I’m no good. Bowling I’m mediocre. Pool I’m great. Probably me or J-Will is the best on the team. (Asks Earl Barron who is the best at pool). Earl is probably one of the better poker players. Pool he’s nothing. Bowling he’s nothing. So that’s how I go. That’s how we go. We communicate with each other like that.

SJ: They weren’t kidding when they said you had some personality.
GP: I’m the personality of the team. I keep everybody rolling. We keep everybody laughing. It’s just fun, we just have fun with each other.

SJ: What was it like on that parade down Biscayne Boulevard. I was there watching you guys drive down the street? It must have been ecstasy, high on life right there?
GP: Incredible. Incredible feeling. Especially when you see all of the fans that came out, the 250,000 people that came out. We were screaming, yelling, shooting water guns, hitting everybody, and having a great time. That’s a great feeling. I don’t think too many people have the opportunity to feel that feeling. We had a chance to do it and we had a chance to give back to the fans, and have them come out and appreciate us. It was nice.

“It’s a glorious life, but it’s hard. It’s really hard.”

SJ: That first night when they’re unveiling that championship banner at American Airlines Arena: Crowd’s going nuts, national TV, cameras everywhere. What’s going through your mind? Some people think that distracted you guys, and that you got lost in the moment.
GP: I don’t think so. I just think we weren’t ready for the game. That’s all. We wasn’t ready as a team. But all of that stuff was great. It’s one of those things you live down the rest of your life. You can show the videotape to your kids, and your grand kids, and stuff like that. You can look back and say I did this. It was just a great feeling. You have one of those moments, where it’s just going to stay there the rest of your life. Especially if you had your parents, your wife, your kids, and everybody there to see it and witness it. It was cool it was really great. We just wasn’t prepared to play the basketball game. That’s all I thought And it just happens.

SJ: How many more years do you plan to play?
GP: I only think I’m going to go one more year. I got a daughter that’s 18 years old. I gotta take her to college this year. She choose LSU. Shaq convinced her to go there. Then I got a son that’s 15, 14, and 9. So I want to see them grow up. I want to see them go through high school, and I can go to some of their basketball games, some of their functions, some of the stuff that they do like this with their schools, so I can be there to help out and stuff like that and just have a good time with them. They grew up with basketball all their life, so it’s time for me to give back to them, and be a father to them, and go to some of the stuff they want me to go to.

SJ: What’s it like to raise kids while constantly going from city to city. You’re living the NBA life. It’s a glorious life…
GP: It’s a glorious life, but it’s hard. It’s really hard. It’s hard on your family, because sometimes my daughter doesn’t want to move. She doesn’t want to keep moving around cause she gets friend, and she wants to graduate with her friends. So it’s really hard for me right now, because they’re not her. So I’ve got to let her stay with her friends. Let her be that woman she wants to be at 18. And my boys, they don’t want to move. They establish friends and they play basketball and stuff like that. So you gotta let them do that. So it’s hard for them to come twice a month, or whatever. But I value their time when I come.

SJ: What’s something that happens behind the scenes that the media or anybody may not hear about?
GP: A lot of stuff. But I can’t tell you that, because then you’d get the exclusive. We do a lot of stuff, it’s a lot of crazy stuff that goes along in the locker-rooms. But it’s just fun. We keep it between ourselves, and that’s what’s so fun about it, because we don’t let people get out and think it’s crazy or outrageous, and that’s why we don’t let no one know what we do. We have a good time. I just want to let you know we have a good time. All our wives eat together. They stay together. All our kids be together. They go out. Shaq takes all the kids to Gameworks, and he takes them all to the movies. He does this every time at an event. We’re all together.

SJ: So I take it you weren’t shy in high school?
GP: No never. I was the class clown. So you know how that was. I had to keep everybody motivated. But that’s just the way I am. I’m just a talkative guy. I stay talkative, I keep everybody motivated.

Payton’s great work with kids is inspiring. Find Target coupons online and brighten a kid’s life.